Avoiding The Hidden Dangers Behind Home Water Storage

Water Storage For Emergency Situations

Water Storage is an indisputable necessity when it comes to surviving an emergency crisis.

If your normal supply of water is suddenly unavailable or becomes tainted then it’s without a doubt in your best interest to have a backup water storage supply in place.

Now when most people imagine emergency water storage they might envision a few gallons of water in old milk jugs laying around the house.  While certainly better than nothing, by no means is it enough, nor is it particularly safe to rely on that kind of water storage.

In fact, most people commit several mistakes when they’re preparing water storage supplies for emergency situations.

Not to be melodramatic, but these mistakes can often prove critically dangerous in an emergency, and it’s imperative when you prepare water storage you avoid them at all costs.

Water Storage Mistakes You Simply Must Avoid

Kelly A. Reynolds, Ph.D. has written extensively on the dangerous mistakes made when people being to store water for emergencies.

As she notes it’s critical you avoid contamination during the storage process.

This includes contamination from your hands or from the containers you plan to use for storage.

She writes:

A 1979 evaluation of metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria3, indicated an 11.2 percent prevalence rate of Entamoeba histolytica, a pathogenic protozoa. Interestingly, the commonality was not associated with type of water supply but by storage of household supplies.

Likewise, a study of an agricultural-based community in Zimbabwe4 showed that household stored water had a higher percentage of samples contaminated with E. coli than tap water used to fill the storage vessels.

Following a cholera epidemic with more than 533,000 documented cases and 4,700 deaths that began in Peru in January 1991, researchers found that contaminated water stored in the home was one of the greatest risk factors for the disease.

Evaluation of stored water supplies showed progressive contamination during distribution and storage, where fecal coliform counts were highest in water from household storage containers and lowest in city well water.

A study highlighted in a 1995 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) described a two-component prevention strategy, which allows an individual to disinfect drinking water immediately after collection (point-of-use disinfection) and then to store the water in narrow-mouthed, closed vessels designed to prevent recontamination (safe storage).

The study determined combination of new disinfectant generators and better storage vessel designs make home water storage a practical and inexpensive alternative. It further stated that a home treatment and storage approach empowers households and communities that lack potable water to protect themselves against a variety of waterborne pathogens. That, in turn, has the potential to decrease the incidence of waterborne diarrheal disease.

As you can see, it’s incredibly important you don’t make these mistakes when preparing your water storage.

So what then do you do to ensure safe water storage?

Simple. Follow the steps listed below.

Foolproof Steps for Safe Water Storage

To ensure the water storage you use in an emergency is safe follow these steps.

1- Always ensure you’ve performed proper sanitation techniques beforehand. This would include washing your hands thoroughly, and if possible using sterile gloves.

2 – Use narrow mouthed water storage containers. Doing so helps ensure your water isn’t exposed to the introduction of outside contaminants. Keep then openings narrower than 10 cm if possible.

3 -Only use new or sterilized food grade containers. This keeps the possibility of new bacterial growth at a minimum.

4 – Use the highest quality water for initial water storage. If you can ensure the water you use has been treated chemically or through boiling. This will prevent bacterial proliferation at a later date.

5 – Store water in a cool dry place. Bacteria and pathogens thrive in warmer environments. The cooler you can keep your water storage the safer you are.

6 – Never use 1-gallon water jugs. These plastic jugs you buy water in at the grocery store are not ideal for water storage for two reasons. The first is because they will degrade over time and eventually burst causing all of your water to spill. The second is they are difficult to clean and can harbor bacteria which could make you quite sick.

If you follow these 6 steps for your water storage you’re less likely to encounter significant problems with your water storage.

Here at Survival Frog we have tons of options for safe water storage.

Including the containers you need for safe water storage, the treatments to take care of problem bacteria as well as the supplies you need to make water storage easy.

Click here to see our water storage supplies.

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6 thoughts on “

Avoiding The Hidden Dangers Behind Home Water Storage

  1. Gary Molaskey

    I once read of a long term product for water storage safety but can’t find it. Any knowledge of that?
    Is colloidal silver ( home made ) a good alternative? And how much do you think is needed for a 5 gallon bottle?
    Thanks Gary

    Reply
  2. John

    I have heard that ozone-treated water is immune to all the nasties. If water is boiled, then ozonated, then put into sterilized containers, how long is this good for without problems? How do we ozonate the water?

    Reply
  3. Len Wenzlick

    I keep about 165 gallons in 3 barrels. How much chlorine bleach is added for safe ratio for a 55 gallon water barrel?

    Reply

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